Advising Tips
February 2, 2004

Museums and More

The last thing you need is for me to give a list of more things to do. With course work, clubs and organizations, your job, sporting events, and inevitable socializing, you’re already probably feeling maxed out.

But the great thing about the U of M campus is that there are literally hundreds of cool places to visit that are remarkably easy to get to. In fact, there are plenty of things you can do if you have an hour between classes or a little bit of time on a weekend afternoon that will make for great study breaks.

Below is a highly selective list of some great things to do on campus. I’ve added links so that you can go to these places web sites and get more information.

Nature—If you lived or are living on the Hill, you probably know how great the Arboretum is on a sunny fall or spring day, but traipsing through the Arb in the snow is also a blast. You’ll need a car to get the Botanical Gardens on Dixboro Road, and they’re great anytime of the year, but I recommend the conservatory gardens on a cold winter afternoon. There’s nothing like sitting on bench next to a palm tree and taking deep breaths of almost tropical air while watching the snow fall outside the conservatory windows.

The Nichols Arboretum
The Matthaei Botanical Gardens

Museums—Have you ever been on trip and felt “museumed-out”? You know: when you feel that if you see one more painting or one more fossil that you’ll collapse. The great thing about living and working near museums is that you don’t have to try to see everything. You could drop in between classes and stay for five minutes or for a few hours. Here’s a partial list of the museums on campus:

The Exhibit Museum of Natural Science
The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
The Stearns Collection of Musical Instruments
The University of Michigan Museum of Art

Science—The Angell Hall Observatory is a working observatory, and throughout the year there are times scheduled when students and the public can you use its telescopes do some serious stargazing. The Detroit Observatory isn’t in Detroit but instead is on the Hill, and while it’s no longer a working observatory, you can see how astronomy was done in the good old days.

The Angell Hall Observatory
The University of Michigan Detroit Observatory